S/Province disburses K7.8bn empowerment loans
By Sandra Lombe in Livingstone
Sat 12 Feb. 2011, 04:00 CAT
SOUTHERN Province has disbursed empowerment loans amounting to K7.8 billion from 2009 to date. Southern Province permanent secretary Gladys Kristafor said K500 million from the Citizens Economic Empowerment fund was disbursed to 24 projects as at January this year.
Kristafor said K7.3 billion, through the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC), was paid out prior to the decentralization of which about K1.9 billion was pumped into a banana project in Siavonga.
She said the province was currently awaiting the release of more funds to serve the remaining 50 projects.
“The new revised CEEC application forms up to K50 million will be placed with the respective district empowerment committees chaired by the district commissioners whose work will be to receive applications, appraise them and recommend viable business projects to the provincial empowerment committee for funding and help in the recovery of loans,” Kristafor told journalists on Thursday.
She urged the beneficiaries of the loans to honour their repayment, which was at only 12 percent interest rates, to allow other people to access the funds. Kristafor admitted that there were many concerns over the CEEC funds.
“It’s existing, the country is big. We have a lot of applications in the province but we can’t satisfy all,” she said.
Kristafor said some projects had not been funded because they were not viable and the applicants did not meet the requirements.
“This money is not given like spoon feeding people. It’s a facility that credible, viable people should get. We are trying our best to ensure deserving projects are serviced,” she said.
Kristafor said people in areas like Gwembe did not apply for the funds.
And provincial empowerment coordinator Trust Hakulipa said more needed to be done on the recovery of the monies. Hakulipa said Southern Province was among the provinces with the highest number of applicants.
“The volume of work is increasing. We have endeavoured to give response where it’s due,” he said.
He said some people had not been good at repaying the loans. Hakulipa said the processing and approval of the projects was supposed to take less than two months but at times delays were experienced due to lack of funding.
“Some delays admittedly can be on our part but some are on applicants who delay in bringing certain documents,” said Hakulipa.
Labels: GLADYS KRISTASFOR, SOUTHERN PROVINCE
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Kristafor notes ills in public procurement
By Sandra Lombe in Livingstone
Mon 29 Nov. 2010, 04:00 CAT
SOUTHERN Province permanent secretary Gladys Kristafor says that there are challenges faced in as far as the structure and composition of procurement committees are concerned. Kristafor said on Friday that most institutions had challenges of capacity and human resources in public procurement.
At the close of the five-day workshop on procurement of goods, services and works organized by the Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA) under the auspices of public expenditure management and financial accountability programme at New Fairmount Hotel, Kristafor commended ZPPA for ensuring that each province had a crop of adequately trained procurement personnel.
She said the new Act had come with some unique features aimed at promoting effectiveness and efficiency and also to promote transparency and accountability in the public procurement system.
Labels: GLADYS KRISTASFOR, ZPPA
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Encroachment of commercial forest saddens Tourism PS
By Abigail Chaponda in Ndola
Thu 18 Feb. 2010, 11:10 CAT
TOURISM, environment and natural resources Permanent Secretary Gladys Kristasfor has said she is saddened at the encroachment levels in commercial forest plantations and forest reserves on the Copperblet.
And Kristasfor has said Zambia Forestry and Forest Industries Corporation (ZAFICO) has
replanted 1,290 hectares of trees out of 1,300 hectares target for the 2009/10 replanting season.
During a media briefing at ZAFFICO headquarters in Ndola on Tuesday, Kristasfor said encroachment in commercial forest plantation and forest reserves was contrary to the provision of the forests Act, Cap 199 of the Laws of Zambia.
She said in order to give ZAFFICO enhanced control on commercial forest plantation, the government would consider to include within the forests Act a forest category of the commercial forest plantation whose control and management would be vested in ZAFFICO through the forestry department.
“We must realise as Zambians that deforestation often leads to increased poverty levels and accelerated degradation. The government will continue to consider degazzetion of forests when necessary and will release excise land to allow legal settlements,” she said.
“We are appealing to our citizens to cooperate with government and the should only settle in legal designated areas. This will help us to have permanence and be able to practice sustainable agriculture and subsequently improve our livelihoods while at the same time deriving benefits from our forests.”
Kristasfor also appealed to saw-millers both small and large to continue improving their processing technology and promote value addition to reduce on wastage during harvesting and processing seasons.
She said the ministry through Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) and other cooperating partners was lobbying for support to ZAFFICO by way of technology development and attract joint ventures so that it could realise maximum benefit and help improve the economy.
She also said that beekeeping at Zambia Forestry College would be revamped through the rehabilitation of the Mwekera beekeeping factory in order to support students training in beekeeping and provision of well -processed bee products.
Labels: FORRESTS, GLADYS KRISTASFOR, ZAFICO
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